Squeak and you shall find

HIGHLIGHT

So excited to announce our May photo challenge on bookstagram! As huge fans of this show, Amy, Jenn and I thought, “hey since we constantly quote the show, why not turn it into a photo challenge.” And we seriously hope that you will come us, because we had fun seeing your photos and we really… [Continue Reading]

“Piecing together a murder was much more difficult than piecing together a cake.” – Ellie Alexander, Meet Your Baker (Baker series #1) True to its title, Meet your Baker by Ellie Alexander was a prelude to a cozy mystery series, which includes,yes, baking. But, Ellie Alexander offers more than that- this is a fun and definitely a… [Continue Reading]

“War didn’t only sunder people, Antonina mused in her memoirs, it could also intensify friendships and spark romances; every handshake opened a door or steered fate.” –Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper’s Wife The Book Wars, to those who lived long enough to share their stories would tell you that these hostilities could either make or break… [Continue Reading]

Let me begin my review by quoting a line of song from Beauty and the Beast, “both a little scared, neither one prepared…” this line personifies exactly what I feel about this movie. You get the excitement, a childhood Disney favorite revisited, but with the nostalgia and elation comes the foreboding thought that it will… [Continue Reading]

“What would you do, if you were a free man?” “I would take my violin and play. I would walk the world and play, until someone called me by name and called me home.” – Winter Song by S. Jae-Jones Once there was a little girl who played with a mysterious boy in the… [Continue Reading]

So excited to announce our May photo challenge on bookstagram! As huge fans of this show, Amy, Jenn and I thought, “hey since we constantly quote the show, why not turn it into a photo challenge.” And we seriously hope that you will come us, because we had fun seeing your photos and we really had fun putting this together.

as always, we are not providing an explanation for each prompt, because we love when check the entries and find very creative answers, so we thought it’ll be better to keep it that way. However, I provided a guide below, but again, you may go around the prompt whichever way you want and our only rule is HAVE FUN with it!

“Piecing together a murder was much more difficult than piecing together a cake.”

– Ellie Alexander, Meet Your Baker (Baker series #1)

True to its title, Meet your Baker by Ellie Alexander was a prelude to a cozy mystery series, which includes,yes, baking. But, Ellie Alexander offers more than that- this is a fun and definitely a very promising start to a series. I say this because it has everything a hungry mystery reader is looking for; it is packed with the rudimentary elements of mystery solving, of course, the guessing game that is who did what, where, when, how, and the salivating mention of recipes, several of them peppered throughout the story (oiiiii, that turkey sandwich!)

Chef Juliet Capshaw’s return to her home town of Ashland, Oregon has a sad history to it. After a painful separation from her husband, her escape back was to forget and heal a broken heart, but was welcomed with more crushing and tragic reality- a family bakeshop, Torte, was on the brink of shutting down after so many years of operation, and a murder in this very homey bakeshop on top of all these.

What makes a great mystery read? To me, it’s the essence of waiting, guessing, and execution of words, if you have these, then for me, it’s a good read. This book kept me guessing till the very end, and sad as this may sound, I am embarrased to admit that I accused the wrong person-completely crazy conclusion there (ha-ha)

Meet Your Baker is cozy and mild. I loved the mix of drama with the mystery and how the story carefully evolved from start to finish. The characters and their stories were realistic and , the Town was so inviting, and thank you Ellie Alexander for the mouth watering recipes and mention of food. I will definitely read the rest of books in the series and I happy to recommend this book.

“War didn’t only sunder people, Antonina mused in her memoirs, it could also intensify friendships and spark romances; every handshake opened a door or steered fate.”

–Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper’s Wife

The Book

Wars, to those who lived long enough to share their stories would tell you that these hostilities could either make or break you, where the damage could have long lasting effect to your entirety. Ackerman’s The Zookeeper’s Wife gave us the story of the Żabiński’s, whose courage and heroism during the World War II was highlighted in flourishing descriptions and factual allegory.

The Żabiński’s story is a celebration of life in itself. As successful zookeepers, Jan and Antonina were known for their intricate knowledge and stewardship to animals under their care. The invasion of Nazi in Warsaw forced them to turn their zoo into a villa used as gardens, even a farm supervised by Germans, but behind closed doors and despite the presence of German soldiers day in and day out, they used their zoo’s underground building, tunnels as safe place for Jews in hiding.

There was an undeniably fearsome theme in their account. Imagine trying to survive a Great War in constant alarm and woe, knowing your lives are in line should you get caught hiding Jews. But knowing the danger, this didn’t hinder the Żabiński’s from saving lives.

The Movie

I was invited to see the movie in advance a couple of weeks ago. I went there knowing wholeheartedly that the book will never transfer and flow to the big screen entirely. So, I sat in the theater, embracing that thought with complete respect. I must admit, I went in there with only about a 1/3 of the book read, but despite that, the movie had its own separate charm and power.

The movie opened with delectable showcase of the Żabiński’s zoo animals- the calm before the storm as we know it. Johan Heldenbergh and Jessica Chastain’s portrayal of Jan and Antonia gave us an effective characterization of an empathic zookeepers, of compassionate human beings in the midst of a global war.

If you’re looking for an epic world movie with grandiose display of visual effects, production design, these categories took a back seat in the film and gave the Żabiński’s humanitarianism its main focal point.

The book contained series of factual events and names that I tried to search for while watching the film, but despite the absence of these facts, or additions, what the film highlighted was enough and effective. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of Urzula’s story effectively portrayed by Shaira Haas- a young 14-year old girl violated by a couple of German soldiers. Her story was the truest representation of what war must have been like- regardless of age, no Jew was safe.

The Żabiński’s story, through this film, not only took a pluck to my heartstring, but it definitely left a pivotal lesson that despite the evils of the wars, there are still stories of heroism and courage buried under rubbles of forgotten memories of the war waiting to be told, and thanks to Focus Features, we get to see a part of that rubble.

Let me begin my review by quoting a line of song from Beauty and the Beast, “both a little scared, neither one prepared…” this line personifies exactly what I feel about this movie. You get the excitement, a childhood Disney favorite revisited, but with the nostalgia and elation comes the foreboding thought that it will never be the same. Never, despite the amount of modern cinematography, impressive visual effects, re-tailored costumes, new and original score, which despite its progress could either make or break any film.

But, I went into Belle’s and Beast’s world knowing that I shouldn’t compare, bearing in mind that these two adaptations do not owe me anything.

Faithful. Yes, faithful. This is what the movie brought to the table. The marriage of the old and new, where the former embraced the new additions like old pals. I found the transition from the old to the new very comforting, where we finally found answers to questions from the animated film come to light.

Oh, Emma, Emma, Emma, how did you win my heart twice? Her unpretentious and charming without effort portrayal of one of the well loved Disney princesses was refreshing. No need to search for Belle’s high caliber vocals, Emma’s rendition was sweet and satisfying.

“What would you do, if you were a free man?”“I would take my violin and play. I would walk the world and play, until someone called me by name and called me home.”

– Winter Song by S. Jae-Jones

Once there was a little girl who played with a mysterious boy in the woods. The mysterious wished to make her his bride, but she had turned him down several times. Soon, the little girl grew up and forgot about the boy, until one day, like time was on their side, the boy reappeared and wished to claim what he remembered and they lived happily ever after, or did they?

I honestly don’t know how to review this book, and I mean it in a good way and let me tell you why.

Elisabeth’s or Liesel’s story is a narration of an exemplary dreamer- A girl whose beauty was not her greatest strength , a virtuoso, and whose love for her family was described to be unparalleled to a point of sacrificing her own for others to succeed. Her yesteryears was narrated in full ballad of dreamy moments with the Goblin king, where with her own music, captivated him from the beneath the Earth. But as years went on, Liese’s view of the world changed and these moments with the Goblin king vanished along with these changes like a song coming to an end.

The reappearance of the Goblin King into Liesel’s life had some sense of predictability to it, but tastefully done, no, deliciously done. And then we were introduced to a kingdom beneath the Earth and all its myths and magic.

Jae-Jones serenaded me with her writing and my heart was truly mesmerized at the innocence of every word, where the debut of the characters, both good and evil, were admirably narrated.

And, the Goblin King, oh, our nameless Goblin king, the king of mischief, but whose heart admits sorrow, but atones his sins with his own music was easily lovable.

This book is loooong, but I wanted more. I don’t think this book is anything like the movie, Labyrinth, at all. I think it is full of its own magic. Okay, I need book 2 NOW.

“All my life,” she said, “I have been told ‘go’ and ‘come.’ I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man’s servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow in the forest than live a hundred years of the life appointed me.”

– Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale

There are two types of fairytales in my honest opinion; one that draws you to wish upon the star hoping your dream of having that true love’s kiss do come true, and the other kind that provokes your innermost fears enough to keep you awake and all five senses always on guard. This book introduced me to the latter.

I find that this story is reminiscent of the fairytales we grew up loving, but personalized by Russia’s own fairytales and folklores and it’s rich culture. This book is full of blithe imagery of the bitter cold Russian landscape where our stubborn but strong willed protagonist, Vasya, lived with her family. I fell in love with her immediately, intirely fell in love with her and her abilities to see and feel spirits and beings others cannot. To meet characters that are new to my fairytale vocabulary was the gift of this book.

But, what is a fairytale without its villains. When Vasya’s father ruturned with a new wife, and a priest came to their town, their way of life was disrupted, putting a challenging impression to their beliefs and ethnology.

I loved the premise of the book. The story telling was superb and the first part I found really atmospheric and fetching. But, as I went deeper into the story, I found myself in an unfamiliar terrain and couldn’t retract my steps back to my point of origin. I regret that I couldn’t further get into sync with the flow of the story and I regret that I am giving it a three star read.

But, if you’re looking for Russian mythology, folklore read, I still recommend this book.

If you look into Jake Epping’s story, his foremost anecdote, sounds like a rather simple narration of a 30 something divorcé. An English teacher whose life is a series of redundant activity of grading GED essays and religious visit to a local diner owned by his friend, Al. But Al’s diner holds a secret- its storeroom is a portal that binds the present and the past.

Revisiting the past is tricky. To you, you step into a brand world that defines the present world and you get fixated at an ethereal power convincing you that you could re-write history. Al’s obsession was to stop the assassination of John F Kennedy and he enlisted Jake to do the job.

The central theme of this story is a lucid one: if you could re-write history, would you? Jake was presented with myriad opportunities to the same, but in the end, I think we all know what his decision presented the world.

But his adventure within this portal, I can say, helped him recast the tautology of his own world, where in the end he was ready to re-write his own history.

You’d think this 800 page something book is haunting, but really, as you read along, you wished it just kept going. I love the straightforwardness of the theme, the dialogues, the plot in general. It was just like listening to two people telling stories to each other. An easy 5 star in my book. Thank you Mr. King!

” The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

I’m a huge advocate of reading. I’ve always been a firm believer of introducing books at an early age. I raised my son, even as a baby, surrounded by books. He’s turning 14 in few days, and the magic of every turn of the page still lives in him.

To receive this box from Little Bookish Wardrobe is a privilege, to which I am grateful for, and to help spread the exsistence of this box is an honor.

All the goodies included in this box are perfect reading tools which aids the readers with their imagination and the craft idea is perfect treat to further enhance the experience, perfect for those bonding moments with the tiny humans.

As a mother and educator, I give this box an easy 5/5 rating and I highly recommend this box. Visit Little Bookis Wardrobe on Instagram to learn more about this box.

“What she wants most— what she truly years for—is what any of us want: to be seen.

And look. She is”

– Christina Baker Kline, A Piece of the World

I have been seeing this book being advertised on Facebook, and I thought that it offers a touching premise. So, imagine my excitement when I was offered an advance copy of this book for review. Thank you so much, William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins for this book, I am grateful.

A Piece of the World is a fictional memoir written by Christina Baker Kline, which commemorates painter Andrew Wyeth’s famous work, Christina’s World. The painting itself is a love affair betweenWyeth’s delicate tempera and Christina’s life hurdled by undiagnosed disease perpetualized through a canvas.

Defined by her illness, Christina Olson led a life of what I can say, in utter simplicity. Forced to abandon what could’ve be promising education, cared for a family who sheltered and construed her entire essence by the disease, and left heart broken by lover who promised her the moon and the stars. These, she thought could’ve been her to ticket to witness the world.

Andrew Wyeth’s role throughout the story, though spiradic, provides a great back bone to Christina’s life . Wyeth painted the world a girl in pink dress, crawling her way through the fields of green, facing a farm house- a careful analysis of her mortal struggle, but despite of it all, had accomplished so much.

This story is truly touching and impressive. It teaches us one powerful lesson in life- life’s misfortunes happen, but we do about it defines us a person. Walk, run, crawl, whatever it takes, we have to find our piece of the world.

I can’t believe it’s that time again! Where did time go, really. This month, we would like to honor our love for the Beauty and the Beast, and what better way to commemorate the upcoming live action movie (which is set to be shown on the 17th) well, by doing a Beauty and the Beast themed photo challenge of course! (This one is based on both the animated film and Broadway show)

Here are the prompts we came up with. Normally, we provide an explanation for each prompt, but this time, we would like to leave it as is, and allow all us to interpret it however way we desire. But, in the spirit of my blog tradition (lol) I am providing a quick guide. You don’t have to follow this guide, like I’ve said, interpret it however you can, have fun, go crazy!

1. Tale as old as time- old books

2. But you’ve read it twice! Read several times or more. What your mom or dad read to you.

Why, hello there!

Hi, and welcome to The Squeaky Cupboard whose name was derived from the owner's constant squealing upon the sight of a new book. You don't have to squeal or ekkk your way into this cupboard, just say you love books, food, or you just love the thought of loving anything, then we can be friends.